Microsoft says costly Blu-ray put PS3 at disadvantage

Lower price points boost 360

Shares

Microsoft has claimed that the lack of a Blu-ray player in the Xbox 360 has been the key to its sales success when compared with Sony's PlayStation 3.

Microsoft's Xbox Product Director Aaron Greenberg says that the Xbox 360 has "nearly twice" PS3's installed base in the US – in part because its lack of a Blu-Ray drive, which means that the console can be produced for far less cost and thus sold on to the consumer at a much more attractive price point.

"Sony bet on the physical disc, and there are costs associated with that," Greenberg told Edge. "The fact that we're able to offer a console starting at $199 is a benefit of not being burdened with that cost.

"For us, our bet was on digital distribution, that was the future - the ability to [play] 1080p movies with no disc, no download required; we have the largest movie and TV library, the largest HD library of any console."